Local heroes spotlighted at BBC Make a Difference Awards thanks to support from University of Northampton students

It was lights, camera, action last week for a team of five creative University of Northampton students who provided coverage of BBC Radio Northampton’s Make a Difference Awards 2025.

Five students from the University’s Creative Film, Television and Digital Media Production course delivered professional photography and video footage for the BBC’s Make a Difference Awards, capturing the magic of the evening as local people were recognised for their inspiring work.

The BBC Make A Difference awards recognise ordinary people doing extraordinary things in their community to change the lives of others, with Northamptonshire winners this year including Northampton Volunteer Car Scheme and Roy Marriott, of Animals in Need UK.

The full creative team of students were Hollie Brown (Interviewer), Jamie Webb and Milly Springle (Editing and Sound Engineers), Nat Tepper and Lewis Tyler (Recording and Camera Operators), with Technician Demonstrators Laurence Maybury and Laura Stewart supporting from the wings.

As well as capturing live footage throughout the awards ceremony, the students interviewed nominees before the curtain was lifted, captured official photographs of the award winners, and created post-event social media videos on behalf of BBC Northamptonshire.

As the lights dimmed on an inspiring evening of awards, the student team reflected on a successful event.

“Working as a Video Editor was a lovely experience – I had so much fun collaborating on this project and the event” reflects Milly.

“Through working with the BBC on the Make a Difference awards, I got to work with others from my graduating year who are all hugely talented in their respective roles,” adds Jamie. “Working as part of the film crew went very well. It was very fast paced, with no room for error, and I feel we managed to pull it off with great success.”

“In my role as Camera Operator, I was tasked in capturing both the on-stage awarding and audience reaction by finding selected angles both in the theatre and on stage (as well as pre-event coverage) to achieve a range of exciting, purposeful shots” reflects Lewis.

“My experience was extremely positive, as shooting a live ceremony within a theatre was a new format for me. We achieved an extremely effective strategy when communicating via headset to capture a range of essential angles and shot types to make for an insightful, engaging edit.”

Holly, whose role was Interviewer, adds: “This was such a great opportunity to get some real-life experience within the industry as this is a profession that I wish to go into in the future. It was a privilege to meet people within the Northampton community and hear about how they have made a huge impact in their town and to other people’s lives.”

This coverage of BBC Radio Northampton’s Make a Difference Awards falls hot on the heels of similarly valuable industry opportunities led by the soon-to-be graduates, including delivering a video for Digital Northants’ Summer Reading Challenge which was rolled out to more than 250 primary schools in the county.

Deputy Head of the School of Culture and the Creative Industries, Dr Anthony Stepniak – who led the collaboration between UON and BBC Radio Northampton – said: “Here at the University of Northampton, we feel that making sure our students build a broad portfolio of industry experience is as important as the qualification they leave us with.

“We are proud of the local, regional and national connections we continue to nurture to ensure our students have the opportunity to flex their skills in real-world environments, as well as adding immense social impact to our county and beyond.

“I have been hugely impressed with the professionalism demonstrated by these students for the BBC Make A Difference awards, and I look forward to hearing about their future successes as industry professionals.”

*The University of Northampton’s Creative Film, Television and Digital Media Production degree ranked 11th nationally in the latest Guardian University Guide 2026, a national league table which ranks the country’s universities across eight measures of performance, including how satisfied students are with their course and their chances of getting a good job after graduating.